(1) Field of Invention:
The present invention relates to the art of body bags or pouches for transporting and storing dead human bodies. More particularly the invention is concerned with strong, flexible, waterproof, odorproof pouches for use in transporting and storing such bodies following an accident, a crime or under circumstances where the potential for a delay between death and cremation or burial of the body may allow substantial decomposition of body tissue to take place.
(2) Description of the Prior Art:
Following death, a human body begins to decompose. The products of such decomposition, body fluids and gases, are both disagreeable and may contain harmful organisms. If there is a delay between death and cremation or burial of the body, these products can build to levels that are barely tolerable to those persons whose job it is to recover, transport, examine, or dispose of human remains. Also, these decomposition products constitute an immediate health problem to these people. Such a delay may occur following a disaster or accident, where one or more persons has died in a remote area or in such numbers as to overwhelm the facilities available for temporarily holding human remains or where substantial decay of human tissue can occur during the time required to find and recover a body. In the event a crime is suspected of having been committed, the investigation of criminal allegations may include examination of the remains of the victim. Storage of these remains may be necessary until appropriate examiners can be convocated and allowed access to the body. Also, following a severe traffic accident, there may be need for a pouch to transport those remains badly mangled.
Relatively little progress has been made in the art of pouches for dead human bodies despite the evolution of technology generally. U.S. Pat. No. 39,261 issued to Holmes in July 1863 and U.S. Pat. No. 924,029 issued to Barnes in June of 1909 disclose pouches for dead human bodies. The invention of Holmes is a single India Rubber bag wherein a body is placed and the bag tied by a cord around the neck of the bag into which neck a wooden stopper has been fitted for a tight seal.
The pouch of Barnes for transporting dead human bodies is also preferably made of India Rubber. Barnes, however, has a series of three layers wrapped and buttoned to hold the body and to make the pouch "air-tight".
The conventional pouch used today is a simple vinyl bag having a single panel cut into one side which panel may be opened for placing a body therein or for gaining access to the body for examination. It is closed and sealed temporarily with a zipper-type slide fastener. The pouch has multiple wooden dowels encased in the periphery of the bag and parallel thereto, adjacent to a number of cut out portions, whereby a hand can be inserted through the cut out portion, to grip the dowel and lift the pouch. The present pouches tend to leak and are not odorproof, deficiencies which are overcome for the first time by the present invention.
Not only does the present invention meets its major objective of being odorproof, it is waterproof, easy to open and close, requires no special tools durable and easily handled by disaster personnel. Prior art known to this inventor includes the following U.S. Pat. Nos:
______________________________________ 39,291 7/1863 Holmes 924,029 6/1909 Barnes 685,789 11/1901 McKendrick 2,170,379 8/1939 Ortt 2,613,421 10/1952 Madsen 2,626,689 1/1953 Davis et al. 3,122,807 3/1964 Ausnit 3,301,452 1/1967 Jester 3,606,137 9/1971 Kugler 4,268,938 5/1981 Walchli 4,301,791 11/1981 Franco, III 4,637,063 1/1987 Sullivan et al. ______________________________________